This invention relates to the transportation industry and, in particular, to a device for protecting toll collection identifiers that are mounted on the outside of a motor vehicle.
For many years, federal, state and local governments have charged tolls on certain public roads, bridges and tunnels. Initially, this was for the purpose of recouping the costs of construction. After construction costs were collected, tolls were continued in order to provide funds for highway, bridge and tunnel maintenance and as an additional revenue stream for the government.
Whatever the reason may have been for the original enactment of tolls, tolls are now firmly entrenched in the landscape. Most major interstate roadways, bridges and tunnels have tolls and are likely to continue having tolls for the foreseeable future.
Traditionally and for many decades, tolls could be paid only with cash. Then, tokens were created to facilitate payment of tolls. More recently, electronic transmitters have become popular. These transmitters are mounted in the automobile and transmit a signal to a receiver at the tollbooth and the driver""s account is thereby debited for the amount of the toll. These electronic toll collection identifiers have become exceptionally popular, because they greatly speed up the flow of traffic. This has the advantage of preventing delays for the driver and is also good for the environment, as it prevents cars from idling unnecessarily, whereby the fumes from the cars accumulate and cause unnecessary pollution to the atmosphere.
More recently, individually coded electronic transducers are being supplied for mounting in motor vehicle systems. Once such system, introduced in New York State and known as E-Z PASS, is coded to provide an electronic signal unique to a particular vehicle. The owner of the vehicle may obtain the transponder device from the appropriate governmental authorities. Thereafter, the transducer is typically mounted on the windshield on the inside of the motor vehicle and emits a signal, which identifies that particular vehicle.
As the vehicle approaches a toll station, an antenna located on a receiver at the toll station ascertains the presence of the vehicle and receives the vehicle identification signal. This allows the toll authority to debit the appropriate toll to the account of the driver, which had previously been established at the time that the driver obtained the transducer from the toll collection authority.
As necessary, the driver can periodically replenish his account, so that there will always be sufficient funds for payment of tolls.
This toll collection system advantageously simplifies the process of collecting tolls, speeds up traffic flow through the toll station, and reduces the cost of collecting tolls by dispensing with the need to have an attendant at the toll station to manually collect cash and to provide change.
In most situations, the electronic toll collection identifier is mounted on the inside of the windshield of the automobile. My earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,938 discloses one particular device for installing the electronic toll collection identifier inside the car, either on the windshield on a sun visor or in some other location convenient and accessible to the windshield, so that its signal can be received at the tollbooth.
For various reasons, there are motor vehicles where the electronic toll collection identifier cannot be mounted in the vicinity of the inside of the windshield. Sometimes this is due to the fact that the windshields are tinted with a certain film that partially blocks the signals. In other cases, the size of the motor vehicle, such as large trucks, may be such that a toll collection identifier mounted on the inside of the windshield is out of position and cannot be easier detected at the tollbooth.
Therefore, there is sometimes a need for mounting the electronic toll collection identifier on the outside of the automobile. Such a positioning is shown in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,938. Brockelsby (U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,846) also shows an external mounted electronic toll collection identifier.
The problem with the external mounted electronic toll collection identifiers is that the existing structures do not properly protect the units. These units are relatively fragile electronic devices. A tap or bang that may otherwise not damage a bumper or fender of a motor vehicle can render these electronic devices inoperable.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry for a secure structure that will protect an electronic toll collection identifier, when it is mounted on the outside of a motor vehicle, so it will not be damaged when the outside of the motor vehicle is struck.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a protective shield for an electronic toll collection identifier. The shield may be mounted in the vicinity of the license plate, or elsewhere on the front of the motor vehicle.
The protective shield includes a metal base plate that can be secured directly onto the motor vehicle. There are also rubber coated arms on each side that extend out perpendicularly, and thereby surround the electronic toll collector identifier in order to protect it from damage.
Any suitable method may be used to attach the electronic toll collection identifier to the shield. For example, screws may be used to pass through openings in the electronic toll collection identifier and the shield and then engage a threaded opening within the bumper of the motor vehicle. In other embodiments, there may be hooks or latches on the arms that interact with notches in the electronic toll collection identifier.